Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
PARLIAMENT'S PUBLIC Accounts Committee (PAC) has criticised the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) for spending some $16.8 million on the repair and servicing of garbage processing equipment for the period 2002-2004.
Auditor General Adrian Strachan brought the excessive expenditure to the attention of the PAC.
Mr. Strachan said that the high cost was attributed to the low performance level of the equipment and frequent downtime.
But according to Errol Greene, executive director of the NSWMA, the equipment was acquired through a competitive process that was approved by the Inter-American Development Bank.
However, Mr. Greene said the equipment was unsuitable for that type of work. He added that this resulted in serious challenges in terms of maintenance and operating cost.
In decrying the business decision, PAC Chairman Audley Shaw said, "The fear we have here is that people find themselves with money in an agency, and instead of acting responsibly and following due diligence, do the thing properly, people just make whimsical decisions that end up on the backs of the taxpayers."
It was also further revealed that among the equipment were two Liebher bulldozers that were inappropriate for the work.
OTHER EQUIPMENT RENTED
As a result of the non-performance, the NSWMA had to rent another piece of equipment that cost about $84 million in rental charges.
But Mr. Greene pointed out that upon investigating the matter, the Liebher bulldozer worked well in the bauxite industry, but at the landfill they were not suitable.
"We do have one that is functioning at the moment. But for every 40 minutes that it works, you have to pull it back and allow it to cool down and wash down the radiator for an hour and half before you get 45 minutes' work out of it," he said.
